Refrigerator.



F. M. WOODWARD.

REFRIGERATOR. APPucAnoN man JULY 6, 1914.

1,151,321. I Patented Aug. 24,1915.

FRANKLIN M. WOODWARD, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOAMOS W. WOODWARD, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

REFRIGERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 19315.

Application filed July 6, 1914. Serial No. 849,055.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN M. Woon- WARD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRefrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention, generally speaking, is to provide arefrigerator of improved construction in which a vacuum chamber isutilized as heat insulation in the walls of the refrigerator.

In many heat insulating receptacles in which a vacuum chamber in thewalls is provided, the receptacle is made of circular or cylindricalshape which is depended upon to resist the pressure of the air tendingto collapse the walls of the vacuum chamber. A cylindrical refrigeratoris objectionable because it is wasteful of space in a room, since itdoes not fit into corners and requires a large amount of floor and wallspace in proportion to the amount of storage space it affords. It hasalso been proposed to construct vacuum insulated refrigerators'ofrectangular shape, but so far as I am aware, all of these priorconstructions have been impracticable, due to the fact that the wallscould not be prevented from collapsing without either making them ofvery intricate and expensive construction, such as a large number ofseparate small vacuum cells, or making the walls so heavy as to renderthe refrigerator unfit for many purposes, as for example, domestic use.

It is an object of my invention to produce a refrigerator of rectangularshape, the walls of which embody continuous thin flat vacuum chambers asdistinguished from the small cells above mentioned, the vacuum chambersbeing provided with bracing means of sufiicient strength to effectivelyprevent collapse of the walls, and the walls and bracing means being atthe same time of light weight.

A special object of the invention is to provide a r frigerator with avacuum chamber, the walls of which may be composed of sheet metal, andto provide bracing or spacing means between the walls and sepa ratetherefrom, which spacing means consists of suitably spaced strips orlattice work carrying cross pins adapted to bear at 0pposite endsagainst the chamber walls, the pins being spaced apart a sufficientdistance to effectively brace the walls against collapse by atmosphericpressure.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central sectionalview through a refrigerator embodying the features of my invention, oneof the walls of the vacuum chamber being partially broken out toillustrate the wall bracing means. Fig. 2 is a perspective viewillustrating the lattice work employed for spacing apart the walls ofthe vacuum chamber. I

The refrigerator which I have shown in the drawings, by way of example,comprises a suitable bottom or base 5, back wall 6, top wall 7, sidewalls 8 and a front Wall 9 in which are mounted one, or more doors 10and 11. The parts 6, 7, 8, 9, 1O and ll may be made of wood or any othersuitable material. In the preferred construction, the vacuum chamber islocated at the inner face of the refrigerator walls, and between thischamber and the outside wall is preferably placed s itableheat-insulating material 12 as, for example, cork or charcoal arrangedin any desired form. The position of the partition or shelf whichsupports the ice is indicated in dotted lines.

The vacuum chamber itself is herein shown as being continuous, that isto say, a single chamber extends along all of the sides of therefrigerator except, of course, the doors 10 and 11 which are providedwith separate vacuum chambers. It is obvious, however, that if desiredthe refrigerator Walls may each be provided with. one or more separatevacuum chamber sections. The chamber comprises an inner wall 13 and anouter wall 14. These walls are preferably formed of sheet metal with theabutting edges at the corners of the refriger- ()bviously the preclsearrangement of the strips and pins may be varied.

" The vacuum chamber for the body of the refrigerator terminates at theedges of the openlngs for the doors 10 and 11, the chamber havingsuitable transverse edge walls 18 of sheet metal around the dooropenings. Separate chambers 19 and 20, which may be formed the same asthe chamber for the body of the refrigerator, are suitably se cured tothe'inner side of the doors and the insulating material 12, said vacuumchambers 19 and 20 fitting snugly within the openings provided in thebody chamber around the doors. It will be seen that when the doors areclosed, a substantially continuous vacuum chamber on all sides of .therefrigerator is provided, which afi'ords the maximum amount of heatinsulation to .the interior of the refrigerator.

The object in making the pressure-resisters 17 of small cross-sectionalarea, as shown, is

to minimize the conduction of heat through the vacuum space. By reasonof the small cross-sectional area of the pressure-resisters 17, it isnecessary'to hold them'against turning movement or other displacement.This latter object is accomplished by the lattice work 15, 16.

I claim as my invention:

1. A refrigerator comprising a body of rectangular form and a vacuumchamber in the Walls of the refrigerator comprising a pair of flat wallsproviding a space between them from which the air may be exhausted, aplurality of spacers or bracers positioned between and separate fromsaid walls and acting to prevent collapse of the walls by atmosphericpressure, and a plurality of strips supporting said spacers and actingto space them the desired distance apart.

2. A refrigerator comprising a body of rectangular shape, and meansproviding a vacuum chamber for the walls of the refrigerator, said meanscomprising pairs of flat plates, each being substantially coextensivewith one of the walls of the refrigerator, and a series of crossingstrips positioned between said plates and carrying transverse pinsadapted to engage at their ends with said pairs of plates to preventcollapse of said plates by atmospheric pressure.

3. A vacuum chamber for refrigerators or the like comprising a pair ofwalls, a lattice work positioned between said walls and spacing membersof relatively small cross-sectional area to brace said walls apart and,prevent collapse thereof, said lattice work holding said spacingmembers against displacement.

4. A vacuum chamber for refrigerators or the like having a pair of flatWalls, a, plurality of spacer members positioned between and separatefrom said walls and acting to prevent collapse thereof, and rigid meansbetween the walls and separate therefrom for supporting said spacers andspacing the latter apart.

5. A vacuum chamber for refrigerators or the like having a pair ofparallel walls formed of sheet metal spaced apart a short distance, aplurality of pins positioned between and separate from said plates, anda plurality of crossing strips supporting sai pins and spacing the pinsapart.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

FRANKLIN M. VVOODWARD.

v In the presence of J. T. ATKINSON, H. S. BURPEE.

